author – writer – artist

Category Archives: Writing News

Even with its extra day, February is nearly history. It’s hard to believe we’re almost into the third month of 2020! My resolve to be better at updating the blog hasn’t resulted in much so far, but I’ve decided to, at least, write a monthly update post. Here is February’s…a list of things I did or tried to do

Art

I continued with my daily art practice through February. This month I had two sets of prompts to inspire the subjects of my paintings (Opus Daily Practice and Doodlewash). I also worked on proper water colour paper (instead of my sketch journal). That was a good learning experience. I found through that, that I really like working on hot press paper (as opposed to cold press). Here are some of my favourite February paintings.

In January a children’s pastor at my church (Laurel Archer) asked me to do the illustrations for a booklet to be used during missions month. Laurel wrote the text, I did the paintings (except for the boy and girl; they are hand puppets already in use), then our church’s media department assembled and printed the book. This was a gratifying project!

Writing

Though I haven’t spent as much time doing writing lately, it still occupies some of my time and offers rewards for past work.

Pockets (a children’s magazine put out by the Upper Room Group) reprinted an article I wrote for them some years ago on Jean Vanier. It found its way into the final issue (January / February 2020) of that lovely little magazine. I was sad to hear that it will no longer be published.

I gave a short presentation on writing book reviews at the last meeting of our writing group (South Surrey Writers Group) Thursday, February 27th.

I am continuing to edit my WIP manuscript (working title: Under the Cloud, a sequel to the biblical fiction, Destiny’s Hands that I published in 2012). I am getting dangerously close to being ready to send that baby off to a real editor. Under the Cloud should see the light of publication sometime this year. I’m not making any predictions as to when.

Personal

I’m finding that as I age, keeping the weight off is a never-ending challenge. Even though my husband and I walk for about an hour a day, and eat a pretty healthy diet, the numbers on the scale were creeping up.

There must be an app for that…

There is! I downloaded MyNetDiary and have been keeping track of daily intake, weight, and exercise much more consistently and the weight is slowly coming off.

Well, that was my February…a busy, healthy month. Here’s hoping and praying March is the same. Facing the threat of the Covid 19 virus, I have taken to praying and claiming as a promise of protection Psalm 91:9,10

“Because you have made the LORD,who is my refuge,Even the Most High, your dwelling place,No evil shall befall you,Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling.”

I pray for protection for our land, and the survival of all who fall ill with this virus.

Like this:

It’s been really quiet here as I’ve switched my focus from writing to learning to draw. (Somehow the same creative muscles seem to be involved in both, and lately, learning to get things down visually has captured my interest.)

However, there is a writing project that I’ve been working on since 2014—a sequel to my biblical fiction, Destiny’s Hands. It’s finally finished. I wrote “The End” sometime this spring and for the last few weeks have been primping it. Yesterday I sent it off into the world on its first outing. Whether it ever goes farther than a file on my computer remains to be seen. But I feel wonderful having completed it to this point!

The drawing above is the sketch journal entry I drew yesterday in honour of being done!

Here are the sidewalk work directions that inspired my sketch. (How serendipitous, I thought, to run into that bit of graffiti just at the time I was at the “END” of my project.)

“A collection of poems to touch hearts. They are personal—time and circumstance snapped through the lenses of four women. In their word photos memories abound, family is honoured, love is voiced. Together they speak to a mosaic of people and places, in lands far and near, to times lived and yet to live.”

About the Writers (cover text)

“The pieces represented in this collection are the work of four Vancouver Lower Mainland women. Jeannine Bertoia and Tracie Fisher met in the Fine Arts Department of Kwantlen Polytechnic University. They began to share their poetry in 2005. They were joined in 2006 by freelance writer and poet Del McNulty and finally by author and poet Violet Nesdoly in 2007. The group meets regularly to support and further each other’s creative endeavours.”

A personal note:

I’m so proud of this book—the joint effort of all four of us.

The cover is a painting by Jeannine: “Spring Garden.”

Del conceived the cover design with its stylish bookmark flaps.

The title is taken from one of Tracie’s poems and reflects the theme of gardens, plants, and flowers—one of the subjects that runs through the book. (Other topics that keep recurring are home, family, nature and travel.)

I did the layout and typeset the book’s contents.

Here to whet your appetite are some of my favourite lines from my fellow poets:

From Jeannine’s prose poem “Stories”

“…Huddled on a grey rock, a yellow towel on our laps we told each other stories, yours a stream of laughter, mine told over and over until we became the story. I felt the child under my skin and her face a reflection of my mother and daughter…” – p. 35

From Del’s poem “The Going”

You will go
it will be so tomorrow
where harvest sun
flames the path no longer narrow
we will part then
as light simmers on leaf and limb…”

It’s May 1st. Time to announce the winners of the giveaway. They are: Bonnie and Patricia. Congratulations!

I’ll be getting in touch with both of you for your mail addresses. Hope you enjoy!

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I (and my book Destiny’s Hands) are thrilled to be featured today on the blog Interviews and Reviews. Thank you, Laura Davis, for interesting questions and an opportunity to talk about this project.

Though Destiny’s Hands is not a new book (it came out in 2012) it is a timely read as it tells the story of the first Passover. The modern celebration of the Jewish Feast of Passover begins at sundown tonight, April 14th.

2014 is off to a great start!

Writing has changed a lot since I sold my first article in 1997. Then it was a solo business for me. I was in the middle of taking a writing course and submitted those first pieces to see if I actually had what it took. It was all done by surface mail. (I sound like a real old-timer!)

Last year, after spending the end of 2012 marketing my novel, I decided to get back into freelance writing. Nowadays, the temptation for me is to write a lot but for free. Many publications have folded, and there are far fewer paying markets than there ever were. For the first quarter of the year, my goal was to change bad habits and submit one article per week to a paying market. Now my humble ships are coming in!

At the end of 2013 I received my contributor’s copy of the January/February 2014 issue of Pockets. It had my article on Jean Vanier in it. I’m always thrilled to be published in that beautiful children’s magazine!

Also yesterday my contributor’s copy of Cadet Quest (February 2014 issue) arrived with a word-search puzzle I put together for their “Let’s Get Fit” theme.

It’s all fruit of work I did months to a year ago. Sometimes it seems like you labour and labour and nothing comes of it. And then the results return in a wonderful week or two of deluge! It’s not the instant gratification of fifteen LIKES on a Facebook update. But it has more impact on a resume!

I’m excited to share the poster for the Inscribe Fall Conference. It still seems eons away but September 27 & 28th will be here before we know it!

Inscribe Fall Conference 2013

Learning From Our Peers

I’m also excited to be a workshop presenter. My poetry workshop “Learning From Our Peers” will happen Saturday morning of the conference. Here’s the description of that workshop from the Conference Workshop page:

Description: Explore what contemporary Christian poets are writing. In this 90-minute workshop we’ll look at poems and collections by contemporary Christian poets to discover: 1) the things they write about; 2) the poetic techniques they use; and 3) the sorts of books they assemble.

The goal of this session is to send poets on their way with a fuller kit of poetic tools, ideas for individual poems, and inspiration for possible collections. Come prepared with one of your own poems to share during a short reading time at the end of the session (participation in the reading is optional). There will be poetry book giveaways!

You can also read about other workshops being offered at the link above. Find out more about the conference, a writing contest you can enter, accommodations in the Wetaskiwin area and how to register HERE.